why would my new alpine speakers sound worse than my stock speakers?
 

went to best buy and bought the wire adapter for a ford, installed them in the parking lot, and well......they are weak as all hell. rehooked up the stock speakers, and they sounded fine. the alpine's sound quiet and like they are at the other end of a barrel....that means....

the adapter kits suck.... (never heard anything like that...)

the alpine's suck w/my factory head unit because there isn't enough power, but will be fine when i hook the amp up tomorrow (most likely i think....?)

i got some f*cked up speakers (i inspected them, they were brand new, although the box wasn't sealed. but they appear brand new.)

so i guess i'll find out tomorrow when i put in the amp. i'm just kinda freaked out that this $160 (msrp) pair of speakers (57lp's type R) i paid $80 for can't compete with my STOCK speakers.......

help?!!?

(sorry bob, i couldn't wait the 2 weeks to do it so me and a "knowledgeable" friend of mine are doing it here, i really appreciate the offer though)

i personally cant stand the sound of alpine i think pioneer is way better...other then that i have no clue

I think its a big known fact that the speakers in Rangers rock. If you go to one of the big car ratings websites, they even mention that the sound in Rangers sounds really nice.

Aaron

my pioneers were the ****...

never did alpine.

You probably have them phased wrong. Are you using two Alpines and two stock?

Do you know what I mean by phasing? How did you determine which wire was the "plus" wire on the harness? Without proper phasing, they will suck and lack bass BIG TIME.

yeah the stock speakers are good for stock, but take'em out and compare them to a good set of aftermarkets. compare: weight, quality of materials, size of driver.

i understand everyone has an opinion on different speakers, but all i want right now is opinions on why they aren't performing like they should. i've heard this set in a store, and they sounded a lot better. when they are performing up to spec, i like alpine's more than any other brand that i can afford.

the adapter had a larger slot for positive and a smaller for negative.

now that you mention it, that's what it sounds like too. maybe i did something wrong or something is switched in the harness. i'll go check.

yeah two alpine's in the rear and the stocks in the doors until tomorrow

You may be right. I bought a set of adapters for my rear speakers and the polarity was incorrect. After reversing the wires in the connectors, it was all good.

Actually the adapters were probably right, it was the ford wiring that was backwards (to the industry).

James, (if they are not out of phase) your speakers are probably not getting enough power. I didn't see a head unit, or an installed amp in your signature, so I'm guessing you still running the stock deck. This is why alot of manufacturers list a range for their speakers RMS rating, indicating a minumum required amount.

nope that wasn't it. wierd because it made no difference in sound and power to switch the pos/neg wires back and forth on the speaker...

i hope that's the case that it's just a lack of power, my amp goes in tomorrow. that's what i'm thinking it is, but i couldn't imagine them sounding THIS shi*ty w/o an amp.

Since they were labeled and sold as adapters to put A/M speakers in a Ford, I figured the adapters were to blame.

You're probably right Bob, I was trying to make a light hearted comment about Ford.

James, I bet the amplifier will really liven those speakers up. One thing you might consider is running new speaker wire. Pick up a 12 AWG spool up at walmart. (I think it's scosche brand). It's very good stuff for the price (25 OR 50 feet for under 10 bucks). And then you'll know EXACTLY how each speaker is wired, and with good wire that should handle just about any amount of power you throw at it.

yeah i got a spool of 14 or 16 guage wire. i'm sure things will turn out good tomorrow....just pissed off tonight

I bought a pair of Pioneer 4 way speakers and used them with my stock head unit and i noticed it sounded terrable. A couple weeks later i came across an aftermarket unit and it gave them more than enough power to make them sound great.

I dont know much about Stereos, but I was told that Stock Stereo's in most cars are like 2w per channel, 4w max. I am not sure, but if that is the case, wouldnt that be the problem?

So to me, that would be like trying to run a 500 horse V8, but only letting it breathe through a coffee straw.

thats what i'm thinkin' Brad. cuz my old eclipse HU only put out 25w per speaker, and it was still like 5x louder than stock. i'll update this tomorrow around 5pm my sh*t should be in. thanx for the reassurance.

I've installed lots of aftermarket speakers with stock head units and its NEVER a problem...sure you can crank 50-70 watts RMS through an amp to good speakers but its not REALLY necessary. My friend just hooked up a Rockford sub w/Sony amp and Pioneer speakers all the way round in his Crown Vic with factory head unit...even WITHOUT sub it rocks...sub adds a lot. This just proves you don't need fancy $400 stereos to get good sound. I plan on adding some Infinities soon as I get the cash, but I don't ever plan on changing stock head unit.


My $.02

ALPINE TYPE R NEED POWER TO OPERATE CORRECTLY your factory deck only pushes between 4 and 6 watts rms power. you need an amp or deck. You may be able to go without if you had type s, but i still doubt it!

the crown vic also has the built in amp like the mach 460 sound system does in the mustang. still far more power than the ranger's factory unit

Pretty much what I said. As a matter of a fact, I went and looked at some of those speakers yesterday instead of the Pioneers I have and the guy said I would need another amp. I dont have room in my truck, so I dumped that idea.

Hmm...Well unless it's built into the car somewhere else or integrated into the head unit my friends Crown Vic does not have any additional amplification.

Which means hes running his Polk speakers off the stock deck and uses an adapter to to send a signal to the sub amp. So I suppose some really crazy huge speakers need additonal wattage, but its all mathematical. 50 watts is not twice as loud as 25 watts or twice the power either...etc as wattage goes up amperage goes down...thats where the real power is. Thats also why you need to run huge wires to your amp for effective power transfer.

I believe the formula is volts x amps is watts. Meaning 12V input power at 5 amps is 60 watts.


I'm just rambling now...forget what I said :shrug:

My 93 mustang had an amplifier underneath the passenger seat. You'd never know unless you traced or re-ran the speaker wiring or took out the seat of course.

The stock CD-6 puts out 20 watts RMS.

http://www.visteon.com/products/auto...music_spec.pdf

I have to agree, the stock 6x8 speakers in the rear sound amazing in my 93 Ranger. So I took them out and put them in the front, I just replaced the rears with JBL GX series. The stock Ford speakers definitely kick arse. JBLs sound similar to the stock Ford speakers. I don't get it. You would think technology got better.

This is a 16-year-old thread.

Yes I know.